Lint removing means for vacuum cleaner nozzles



H. A. TAPLIN 3,089,179

LINT REMOVING MEANS FOR VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLES May 14, 1963 Filed April 16, 1962 INVENTOR Howard A Tap/m BY A 77. 7/

'2? ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,089,179 LINT REMOVING MEANS FGR VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLES Howard A. Taplin, 932 W. Beach Ave., Inglewood, Calif. Filed Apr. 16, 1962, Ser. No. 187,522 7 Claims. (Cl. 15-371) This invention relates generally to vacuum cleaners and the like, and particularly to nozzles thereof usually used on a rigid tubular handle attached to hose extending from the suction apparatus.

One object of the invention is to provide such a suction nozzle with improved means for causing lint, threads, hair, etc. to be loosened and removed from the carpet, rug or other surfaces being cleaned.

Many vacuum cleaner nozzles are swiveled to the handle and have a suction head that is reciprocated over the carpet, the head having one or more air passages through which the suction lifts the dirt from the surface being cleaned. Another object of the invention is to associate With at least one of the air inlet passages in the bottom of the suction head, a row of gravity operated pins free to slide up and down so that their lower ends are in contact with the high and low pile of the carpet, the pins functioning to loosen threads, lint, etc. so that the latter will be removed by the suction.

Another object is to so construct and mount the pins that they will not snag or catch on the carpet fiber and cause undue wear or damage.

Another object is to construct and mount the pins so that they will be self cleaning.

Another object is to provide such loosening means for lint, thread and the like, that may be used on various kinds of suction nozzles commonly used in connection with present day vacuum cleaners.

Another object is to provide such loosening means that is simple and relatively inexpensive in construction, highly effective in use and not likely to get out of order and need repairs or replacement.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the novel combination and arrangements of parts and the novel features of construction hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show the present preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one form of vacuum cleaner nozzle having the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is -a bottom view of the nozzle on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section on line 3-3 in FIG. 2, on a further enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail longitudinal section on line 4- 4 in FIG. 2, with parts broken away; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the pins.

While the invention may be embodied in suction nozzles of various constructions, I have illustrated it in a vacuum cleaner nozzle of the type shown in my Patent No. 2,934,780, May 3, 1960. Nozzles of this type usually have a rather flat and generally rectangular shaped suction head or body '10 at the center of which is a tubular handle section '11. The latter has a swiveled connection to the body and is usually connected to the tubular handle (not shown) at the end of the suction hose. As in said patent, the body 1-0 is recessed to provide a chamber 12, depending front and rear walls 13, depending end walls 14 and a top wall 15. The hollow handle section 11 is mounted on the top wall for swinging movement and communicates with the chamber 12. Air inlet passages 19 for the chamber are formed along the walls 13 by a flat rectangular shaped bottom plate 17 which has 3,089,179 Patented May 14, 1963 its ends set in and suitably secured to the end walls 14. The under face of the bottom 17 is in the plane of the lower edges of the several walls 13 and 14, although the edges of the walls 13 are preferably grooved as in said patent.

My improved means for loosening lint, hair, threads and the like are located in the suction head or body 10 preferably at its front or leading edge and extends a substantial distance longitudinally along the elongated body. Such means comprises at least one row of vertically slidable pins with blunt conical lower ends that normally project below the bottom face of the head so as to enter the pile of the carpet, the row being so located in the head that the stream of air created by the suction apparatus will pick up the lint, threads, and hair as they are loosened by the pins. When the head has longitudinally extending air inlet slots or openings such as 19, the row of pins will be in one of such inlets, and preferably adjacent the leading edge of the head as above noted. The pins are preferably cylindrical and made of metal so that they drop by gravity. Their weight is such that their conical ends will enter both the high and low pile of the carpet, but since they float and can freely move up and down, they will yield upwardly to release any fibers of the backing of the carpet that they might engage. While the row may extend the entire length of the head 10, that is unnecessary due to the reciprocation of the suction head on the carpet and the lateral shifting of the head as it is moved forwardly and rearwardly. The pins may have an overall length of about an inch and a diameter about a quarter of an inch; and they may be spaced about five-eighths of an inch on centers.

The individually movable pins are denoted generally by the numeral 25 and they are slidable in a supporting and guiding member 26 that may be mounted in the head 10 in various ways. As illustrated the pin carrying member 26 is an elongated generally rectangular body or block which is set in an opening 27 formed in the top wall 15 of the head 10 along the front wall 13. At each end of the block or carrier 26 are integral extensions 28 which rest upon the top of the wall 15 and may be fastened by screws or other means 29. When the head is made of hard plastic material such as phenolic resin, the block 26 may be of the same material and the extensions 28 fastened by a suitable cement.

T he major part of the block 26 extends into the chamber 12 and its bottom face is spaced above the bottom face of the head 10. Formed in that portion is a row of cylindrical openings 30 in which the pins 25 are freely slidable. The lower ends 31 of the pins are cone shaped and have slightly flat or rounded extremities 32. At the tops of the pins are flat cylindrical enlargements or heads 33 which freely slide in enlarged cylindrical portions 34 at the upper ends of the openings 30. The pins are limited in their downward movement by the heads 33 engaging the shoulders formed by enlarging the upper ends of the guide openings. To retain the pins in the block 26 a narrow stop bar 35 extends across the row of openings on the flat top of the block and may have its ends cemented to the latter or otherwise suitably fastened as by screws 36. When the pins are in their lowered positions shown in FIG. 4, their cone shaped ends 31 project below the bottom face of the nozzle head or body 10 so as to engage and enter the pile of the carpet. The cone shaped ends 31 of the pins will cause them to move upwardly if they meet with sufiicient resistance; and the length of the pins and their guide openings are such that the ends 31 will move substantially within the openings 30 before the heads 33 engage the stop bar 35. Hence the pins are self cleaning.

Since the pin carrying member 26 is disposed against the front wall 13 of the nozzle, the front edge of the bottom plate 17 is formed with a notch or cutaway portion 37, as shown in FIG. 2, to receive that member. The notch. 37 is deeper than the width. of the member 26 to provide an air inlet space 38 which formsa part of the air inlet at the front portion of the nozzle. In short, the front air inlet 19 has a rearwarclly offset portion 38 along the member 26. It may also be noted that only the cone shaped ends of the pins are exposed and threads and hair will not cling to them; and they will not snag or catch on fibers in the carpet.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the invention, and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A vacuum cleaner nozzle having means for looseninglint, threads and the like comprising in combination,

(a) an elongated suction head having a chamber there'- in for engaging the surface to be cleaned,

(17') air inlet means opening into the chamber of said head through its bottom surface, and

(c) loosening means for lint, threads and the like arranged in said head in the path of the air sucked into said head through said air inlet means; said loosening means comprising (d) a plurality of individually movable upright pins spaced from each other in the direction of the length of the head,

(e) means for mounting said pins for limited vertical sliding movement whereby they are individually gravity actuated in a downward direction, and

(f) the lower ends of said pins projecting below the bottom face of said head when the pins are in their lowermost positions.

2. The. combination of claim 1 in which said pins have (a) cone-shaped lower ends to engage and enter the pile of the carpet or the like being cleaned.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which said'mounting means for the pins comprises (a) an elongated mounting member with a plurality of guide openings in which said pins are slidable,

(b) said member having a bottom face disposed slight- 1y above the bottom face of said head, and

(c) the cone-shaped ends of said pins being movable substantially within said guide openings in the extreme upward movementof said pins.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which (a) said guide openings for the pins have enlarged upper ends forming shoulders therein,

(b) said pins have at their upper ends enlarged heads to engage said shoulders to limit the downward sliding movement of said pins.

5. The combination of claim 4 in which (a) said mounting member for the pins has a flat top face through which said guide openings open, and

(17)" a stop bar mounted on the top of said member and extending across the tops of said openings to retain said pins in said openings.

6. The combination of claim 5 in which (a) said suction head has a flat top portion with a vertical opening in which said mounting member is disposed, and

(b) endwise projecting extensions on said member resting on said fiat top portion of the head and secured to the latter to mount said member in the head.

7. In a vacuum cleaner nozzle, the. combination of (a) an elongated body having a suction chamber with air inlet means in its bottom, the latter being en'- gageable with and movable over the carpet or the like to be cleaned, and

(b) means in said body and associated with said air inlet means to loosen lint, threads or the like, said loosening means comprising (0) at least one row of upright elements mounted for substantially vertical movement independent of each other and gravity actuated in a downward direction,

(d) said row extending in the direction of the length of said body, and

(e) said pins having their lower ends normally projecting below the bottom of said body to enter the pile of the carpet or the like being cleaned.

References Cited'in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,191,999 Roever July 25, 19.16 2,528,278 Kendrick Oct. 31, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 278,261 Switzerland Jan. 3, 1952 

7. IN A VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLE, THE COMBINATION OF (A) AN ELONGATED BODY HAVING A SUCTION CHAMBER WITH AIR INLET MEANS IN ITS BOTTOM, THE LATTER BEING ENGAGEABLE WITH AND MOVABLE OVER THE CARPET OR THE LIKE TO BE CLEANED, AND (B) MEANS IN SAID BODY AND ASSOCIATED WITH SAID AIR INLET MEANS TO LOOSEN LINT, THREADS OR THE LIKE, SAID LOOSENING MEANS COMPRISING (C) AT LEAST ONE ROW OF UPRIGHT ELEMENTS MOUNTED FOR SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL MOVEMENT INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER AND GRAVITY ACTUATED IN A DOWNWARD DIRECTION, (D) SAID ROW EXTENDING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE LENGTH OF SAID BODY, AND (E) SAID PINS HAVING THEIR LOWER ENDS NORMALLY PROJECTING BELOW THE BOTTOM OF SAID BODY TO ENTER THE PILE OF THE CARPET OR THE LIKE BEING CLEANED. 